Toymaker Mattel is apologizing for a “wicked” blunder that saw the URL for a pornographic website printed on the packaging for special edition dolls that were released as the movie adaptation of Wicked gets set to hit theatres.
The misprint began making the rounds on social media over the weekend, with users pointing out that the website printed on the packaging for the Glinda and Elphaba dolls did not direct to the official website of the movie adaptation, but rather a website that requires users to be 18 years or older to enter.
“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the U.S., which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page,” the company said in a statement sent to CNN on Sunday, apologizing for the oversight.
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“We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this. Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children.”
Mattel is asking consumers who have already bought one of the dolls to discard the packaging or obscure the link.
The line of Wicked movie dolls is being sold at retailers like Target, Amazon and Kohl’s, Variety reports, but it is not immediately clear how many mislabelled boxes have been distributed to stores or if any of the misprinted toys are being sold in Canada. Mattel has not announced a recall or offered a refund to affected customers.
As of Monday morning, however, at least some of these Wicked dolls appeared to be no longer available or not in stock on sites like Amazon, Target and Mattel’s.
Global News has reached out to Mattel for clarification.
The highly anticipated Wicked movie comes after two decades of the Tony Award-winning musical on stage and stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda.
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